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Granville Christian Academy students clean the county

GRANVILLE - It’s spring cleaning time in the community thanks to the students at Granville Christian Academy.

On Friday, about 150 middle and high school students will descend on places like the square in downtown Newark, the Pataskala YMCA and Heath Nursing Care, among many other sites.

Their program is called iReach, and their mission is to clean. Last year the students cleaned more than 35 locations. They’re confident there will be more this year.

“There will most likely be that many, or more, this year,” said Pat Johnson, the school’s iReach coordinator. “And there will be 15 to 20 private homes of individuals in the community needing assistance.”

The location choices are determined by an assortment of Granville Christian Academy leaders as well as leaders from the Spring Hills Baptist Church. The school is associated with the church.

“Project choices are made on a year-year-basis and are determined by resources and volunteers available,” Johnson added.

iReach sprang from a collaboration with the Look Up Center on O'Bannon Avenue in Newark. The center has ties to Spring Hills.

“Originally, iReach was birthed out of the prayers of offering our Granville Christian Academy students the opportunity to serve others,” Johnson said, “and it made sense to connect with the Look Up Center since one of their goals is to assist others in need as well.”

The term iReach, by the way, began in 2012 when the program started. It was, coincidentally, “When the iPhone was becoming very popular,” Johnson said. “So we wanted to offer a name that would be catchy and be able to be remembered by our students and our community. We wanted to make it personal for our students because the ‘i’ can only represent each one of them individually.”

Ultimately, the mission is to offer an opportunity for GCA students to demonstrate their Christian testimony through acts of service, encouragement and prayer. The hope is it’s a win-win for the students as well as the people in the community.

“We hope to give the community a clear testimony of Christ's love by helping others in need,” Johnson said. “By serving others we are living out our faith.”

“And our hope for the students,” Johnson added, “is that they grow in their love of people through giving selflessly of their time and energies for the betterment of others.”

Tom Barrett, superintendent of the school, agreed, especially, he said, “Because it’s not difficult for our students to be caught up in today’s ‘it’s all about me’ culture.”

“At the heart of Christianity is service,” Barrett concluded. “So my hope for our students is that iReach serves to further instill and reinforce in them it’s not about me, it’s about serving others.”